


Better Things to Come

by RatMonarch



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Betrayal, F/F, First Meetings, Introspection, Some AppleMaple mentions cause it's canon but yeah it doesn't last long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-02 07:58:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18806992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RatMonarch/pseuds/RatMonarch
Summary: Mapleshade had never met such a feisty kittypet.





	Better Things to Come

**Author's Note:**

> (For those who don't know, Crystal was a kittypet mentioned in Pinestar's Choice and is the mother of Jake!)

To say Mapleshade was having a bad day would be an understatement. 

For one thing, she and her kits had been banished from their home in ThunderClan. The betrayal she felt from that still stung like a nettle. When Ravenwing, that despicable rat, had said he was going to tell the Clan the truth about her kits’ father, she knew she would face consequences. She deserved to. She had broken the code. She had lied to every single one of her Clanmates. She had been fraternizing with a tom from another Clan. She had claimed Birchface, a cat who was dead, was the father. Her Clanmates had every right to be mad at her for a while. 

But her Clanmate weren’t heartless. They would punish her, yes. Maybe even mistrust her for a while. But they wouldn’t punish kits who had no say in their creation. They wouldn’t dare blame them for her crimes.

Or so she had thought.

Her (former) Clanmates had swiftly proved her wrong however. They had not only completely turned their backs on her, but on her kits as well. They had treated them like they were less than mouse droppings. They had jeered out cruel names in front of her kits’ faces. Oakstar had banished all four of them and no one had stood up for them. 

The memory still was surreal to her. This couldn’t be reality, right? It had to be some horrible nightmare. The Clanmates she had once loved and trusted had collectively become creatures she couldn’t even recognize anymore. 

It made her wonder if she ever really knew them at all.

Was she hurt? Betrayed even? Yeah, a bit. Her family had been in ThunderClan after all. She had lived there her whole life. To see all of that suddenly being ripped away was jarring and harsh on the heart. 

But, good riddance, she ultimately thought. Banishing innocent kits was an inexcusable crime. For doing that, Oakstar and the rest of ThunderClan could rot in the Dark Forest for all she cared. She was glad to be rid of them. Her kits deserved better. They deserved a Clan with loyalty and integrity. 

They deserved to live with their father. 

Or so she had thought. 

It turned out cruelty wasn’t just limited to ThunderClan. No, it was in RiverClan as well. Or at the very least, it was inside the one RiverClan cat she had thought she loved. 

Mapleshade had always been a rather prepared cat. If one was going to flagrantly ignore the rules like her after all, they had to prepare for any possible consequence of their actions.

She had prepared for an event like this possibly occurring. Her Clanmates finding about her secret one way or another, them kicking her out as a result, them kicking her _kits_ out. And she figured should all those events happen, she would head to RiverClan.

Of course, she wasn’t so foolish as to think that joining RiverClan would be an easy task. She knew that RiverClan’s leader, Darkstar, wouldn’t exactly be thrilled to hear one of her warriors had kits with a she-cat from another Clan. She would _really_ not be happy to hear that said she-cat and her kits then wanted to join her Clan.  
From what she had heard from Appledusk, Darkstar was a very authoritarian leader. She put up with very little nonsense. So this would not be an easy sell. 

However, from how Appledusk had made it seemed, the black she-cat really valued him as a warrior. She constantly approved of almost everything he did and she made her grandson, Perchpaw, his apprentice, something that was considered a great honor in RiverClan. She could use that affection to her advantage. Use it in the hopes that Darkstar would be able to find mercy in her heart where ThunderClan hadn’t been able to. Even if Darkstar only accepted the kits, she’d be satisfied. She’d be sad and heartbroken, yes, but she could survive on her own. Her kits deserved better however. They shouldn’t be blamed for her actions. She had seen the way her kits had paddled around in the river with squeals of joy. They would love it in RiverClan, even if their new Clanmates gave them a hard time at first. 

Too bad they were never even given the chance thanks to the cowardly rat that was Appledusk. She had reached the river, trying to find the safest place for her and her kits to cross, when suddenly, she saw a cat-shaped form paddling towards them. 

Her heart had raced, not knowing how hostile the RiverClan cat would be, until she saw it was Appledusk. Then, excitement and relief had immediately flooded her. Yes, the one cat she wanted to see at that moment!

Appledusk had climbed out of the water next to them, shaking his brown pelt out while he looked around, making sure there were no onlookers. 

Her kits had immediately gotten stirred up by the sight of their father. Petalkit immediately bounced up and down, squeaking, “Mom! Mom! It’s the nice RiverClan cat!”

Mapleshade had immediately placed her tail on her daughter’s shoulders, meowing, “Yes, yes it is, but please dear, you must remain quiet.” The four of them still weren’t completely off of ThunderClan territory and the last thing she needed was a patrol to find the five of them together now. 

Appledusk ignored the excited kits. Instead, he looked at Mapleshade angrily and with flattened ears, hissed, “Why are you here? You can’t keep hanging around. You’re going to get us in trouble.”

Mapleshade was taken aback by the hostility, but she brushed it off. She knew Appledusk was just wanting to protect their secret, and he was probably just feeling worried. So, flicking an ear, she said, “Unfortunately, I had no choice but to come here.”

Appledusk blinked and narrowed his eyes, saying, “What do you mean?”

So, Mapleshade explained everything that had occurred from start to finish, her claws sliding in and out of her paws as recounted the story. Appledusk listened to the story in silence, a scarily blank expression on his face. An occasional swish of his tail or flick of his ear was the only evidence that he wasn’t lost in some kind of trance. She remembered feeling slightly off-put by that. Shouldn’t he be getting horrified? Shocked? Angry? Anything other than this. 

But she continued on. Looking at him imploringly, she begged, “Please Appledusk, you have to talk to Darkstar about letting us in RiverClan-”

“Absolutely not,” Appledusk suddenly said, cutting her off.  
It took her a moment to process what she had just heard. She looked at him for a solid heartbeat before she finally managed, “...What?”

Appledusk looked away, as if ashamed and said, “Listen, Mapleshade. You know I care about you, but I can’t help you.”

Mapleshade bristled, crying out, “Why not? We don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Appledusk took a step back, not looking her in the eye, saying, “Darkstar will never allow it. They will be judged by their Clanmates. They-”

He kept rambling excuses, but as Mapleshade was about to argue the fact that she knew it wouldn’t be easy but she at least wanted to try. But right as she was about to say that, it suddenly hit her. 

Taking a step back herself, she shakily meowed, “This… this is about Reedshine, isn’t it?” 

Now Appledusk was looking at her, panic in his green eyes. “No, no! That’s not it at all!” However the panic in his tone revealed the truth behind it all. 

Bristling, she growled, “It is! You have a thing with her! That’s why you won’t even try for me!” 

Appledusk didn’t say anything. He had reverted back to looking away from her eyes. His silence hurt like a thorn. 

Looking at him coldly, she growled, “Tell me at least one thing, Appledusk?”

Appledusk was still infuriatingly silent. Mapleshade wanted to lash out and rip his pelt off, but her kits were already terrified enough, looking at her with fright. Besides, causing a fight was sure to attract any nearby cats. So, keeping her voice level, she said, “Are you the father of Reedshine’s kits?”

Appledusk was silent for a moment, before finally, he said, “Yes.”

The confirmation brought out a whole flurry of emotions in her chest. She couldn’t even process which one she felt more. She felt hurt, betrayed, furious, and shocked all at the same time. Baring her teeth, she snarled, “You traitor! How could you do this to me? To us?” 

Appledusk opened his mouth to say something, but Mapleshade took a threatening step forward and hissed, “You know what, don’t answer that. I don’t care. I don’t want to be in a Clan with a mouse-hearted coward who doesn’t even know the definition of loyalty. My kits and I deserve better than you.” 

Appledusk just looked at her, before pathetically saying, “I can at least give you some suggestions of a place you can live…”

Mapleshade turned away with a growl, saying, “Forget it. I can find a place for us to stay myself. Just go back home to your precious Reedshine, Appledusk. Live with the knowledge you are a pathetic excuse of a cat who was too cowardly to help out his own children.”

“Children?” Patchkit mewed curiously.  
“Isn’t Birchface our father?” Larchkit added. 

Mapleshade wasn’t having this conversation now. Gently goading her kits with her nose, she said, “Come on, we are leaving.”

Ignoring the complaints from her kits about how tired they were, she heard Appledusk behind her say, “I am sorry, Mapleshade…” The words were empty to her ears however. Just something Appledusk felt like he _had_ to say. 

Turning her head one last time, she had hissed, hatred lacing her voice, “Go rot, Appledusk.” Then, she promptly left, her kits trailing behind her, too scared to ask anymore questions.

And that was how she ended up in front of the Twolegplace. She hated that she had to be resorted to coming here, but where else could she go? WindClan and ShadowClan certainly weren’t going to welcome her with open hearts and she didn’t want to take her kits outside the general Clan area, where there were dangers unknown. 

At least here, she knew her enemy. 

Looking at her kits again, she whispered, “You have to be quiet, dears. This place isn’t the safest.”

“Can we go to sleep soon, Mom? I am so tired,” Larchkit whined, seemingly too exhausted to even try and follow orders. 

“Yeah, my paws hurt!” Patchkit whimpered. “We’ve walked all day!”

Mapleshade felt a twinge of pity in her heart. She was exhausted herself. They had been travelling back and forth across the territories all day, and it had been an emotionally and physically-taxing day for everyone. She had tried to alleviate her kits’ exhaustion by allowing them to ride on her back, but this still was a taxing journey for kits so small. Once again, she cursed the Clans for putting her in this position.

Swiping her tongue across his ears, she said, “Yes, soon we will be able to sleep. Just a tiny bit further.”

‘ _Hopefully_ ,’ she thought darkly. 

She was at least somewhat glad it was so late. It meant there were less kittypets out, since they allowed themselves to be trapped in Twoleg nests. But that still didn’t help her paranoia. There were dangers everywhere. The distant barking of a dog, sleeping monsters, the threat that a vicious, vengeful kittypet might be out. 

Normally, she wouldn’t let something like soft-hearted kittypets scare her so much. After all, she was a trained ThunderClan warrior! She had been in countless battles before, some even with kittypets! 

But now was different. She didn’t have a whole Clan to back her up. She just had herself and her kits, and she was tired from the journey here. She might be able to take on a kittypet or two, but if a mob of them decided to attack her, she stood no chance.

She felt her lip curl. She hated being so vulnerable. 

They needed to find shelter. She kept searching the different Twoleg nest areas, trying to find something that could qualify as a shelter. There was one Twoleg nest with a gap at the bottom that she could slip in, but there was also the smell of dog everywhere in the nest, meaning it wasn’t going to be safe for long. There was another that had a similar problem, with it being a kittypet instead of a dog. Some of the houses didn’t have gaps at all, forcing her to keep moving forward, anxiety prickling across her tortoiseshell pelt. 

The longer they were out in the open, the more exposed to dangers they were. 

All of a sudden, Mapleshade heard the snap of a twig. She barely had any time to whirl around before all of a sudden a ginger-and-white blur crashed into her. She was bowled to the ground immediately, the breath getting knocked out of her lungs. She felt claws digging into her shoulders and a weight on her side. 

“Trying to ambush us, are ya?” the kittypet she-cat hissed at her, fury glowing in her blue eyes. Then, a smug tone in her voice, she said, “You Clan cats boast that you’re _so_ special, but I was able to sneak up on you without any trouble at all.”

Mapleshade tried to move, but the kittypet was weighing her down just right. It was clear this she-cat was a skilled fighter, and Mapleshade couldn’t help but wonder in the back of her mind where the she-cat learned such fighting techniques.

She was about to spit something quite foul at the she-cat when suddenly, she heard Patchkit cry out, “Stop! Stop! Don’t hurt my mom, you mean old kittypet!”

Mapleshade opened her mouth, whether to tell Patchkit and his siblings that everything would be alright or to run, she didn’t know, when suddenly, the she-cat on top of her questioned, “You’re a mother?”

Mapleshade blinked, but nodded, hoping that this meant the she-cat would show mercy. Fortunately, she was right. 

Growling, the she-cat hopped off of her, and said, “You’re lucky.” Then, after a pause, Mapleshade heard a sort of shame come into the she-cat’s voice as she meowed, “I am sorry, I didn’t see them at first. I just saw you and thought you were here to attack some of us again. You Clan cats have a habit of doing that.” The she-cat said the last part with a darker edge in her voice, clearly embittered. Mapleshade suddenly noticed a rather sizable notch in the she-cat’s ear, and wondered if she had gotten that from one of her Clanmates. “But, your kits didn’t deserve to see their mother attacked. So once again, I am sorry.” The she-cat even dipped her head a bit as she apologized. 

Mapleshade was caught off-guard by the apology. Unlike Appledusk’s it sounded… genuine. Maybe it was the fact she was tired, maybe it was the fact that she had such a bad day that this ambush was nothing in comparison to everything else, maybe it was the fact she was so glad to hear some genuine kindness for once, but Mapleshade found the anger in her melt away and she just nodded, muttering, “It’s alright.”

Immediately Patchkit, Larchkit, and Petalkit darted up to her, asking if she was alright, clearly terrified. Mapleshade gave them comforting licks and insisted that she was alright and everything was okay until they finally stopped panicking. 

The she-cat watched this display curiously and asked, “What are you and your kits doing away from the territories? This area isn’t safe for them, you know? I wouldn’t harm innocent kits, but I can’t promise you that other cats around here will be. Why don’t you go home?”

“We don’t have a home anymore,” Mapleshade growled lowly, glaring at the ground, the feeling of resentment in her lighting up. 

The she-cat blinked at her, before cocking her head and saying, “What do you mean by that?”

Mapleshade had considered hissing that it was none of her business. After all, this was just a kittypet. What did she need to hear about Clan affairs about? She should just tell her to leave them alone and let them get on with their business.

But there was something about this she-cat that she trusted. There was an earnestness to the kittypet that had Mapleshade opening up without much hesitation. She told her story from start to finish, surprised at how easily the words flowed out of her mouth in front of this cat. Even her kits seemed to be affected, squeaking out their own commentary every now and then as she told her tale.

Crystal listened to her story for a moment and when Mapleshade finished, she said, “Clan cats really can be cruel… treating a mother and kits like that.” 

Mapleshade couldn’t help but agree. 

The two of them lapsed into an awkward silence for a moment after that. Mapleshade stood up, ready to take her leave and continue forward. She had said her piece, and now she was just going to have to be more careful. A part of her wanted to ask the she-cat for any possible shelter locations, but her pride wouldn’t allow it. She had gotten them all this far… she could push just a little further.

But right as she managed to right herself to her feet, the she-cat walked up to her and said, “Hey, why don’t you stay the night in my den at least? It’s sheltered and I have kits who would be delighted to have friends to play with.” She nodded at Larchkit, Patchkit, and Petalkit as she said that last statement. “I can keep us away from my Twolegs as well.”

Mapleshade wanted to disagree. She didn’t need the help of a kittypet. She was still a warrior at heart. But suddenly, her kits were pleading, Petalkit saying, “Please Mom? I want to meet other kits!”

“Yeah, we’re tired!” Larchkit added. 

Deciding to set aside her pride for once and be fair to her kits, she said, “I … I would appreciate that.” She tried not to roll her eyes at the way her kits cheered. 

The she-cat smiled and said, “I’ll lead the way then, Clan cat.” 

Mapleshade and her kits followed behind the she-cat for a few paces, and even Mapleshade had to admit, she was excited at the idea of laying down and sleeping, with kittypets or not. Most of the journey had been done in silence, when suddenly, the she-cat turned her head to look at Mapleshade and said, “I didn’t catch your name, I realize. My name is Crystal. Yours?”

“...Mapleshade,” Mapleshade said. 

Crystal grinned at her and said, “Well, Mapleshade. I hope you’re ready in the morning to be telling stories to my kits. Jake especially has been dying to meet a real warrior cat since he learned about them.”

Mapleshade just nodded, not knowing what else to say.

“Oh, and by the way... “ Crystal suddenly said. Her blue gaze suddenly darkened, she meowed, “Hurt one whisker on my kits, and I won’t hesitate in finishing the job and ripping your pelt off.”

Mapleshade knew she should be affronted. After all, how dare a kittypet speak to her so insolently like that? Mapleshade should be teaching her a lesson. But instead, she found herself smirking, liking this she-cat’s no nonsense style. Teasingly flicking the she-cat’s shoulder she said, “Like to see you try kittypet, you only won because I was tired.”

“Sure I did, Mapleshade,” Crystal said with a purr of amusement. Then flicking her plumy tail across Mapleshade’s nose, she said, “Now come along, we are almost back.”

And for the first time that day, Mapleshade began to think that things might actually begin to perk up again.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Mother's Day to two very badass mothers in Warriors. I had been wanting to do something with the concept ever since I saw the MAP part and was working on it, with the goal to post it on Mother's Day. It was originally going to be a lot longer, but since the whole goal was to get it out today, I decided to post it here and leave it ambiguous (but know in my heart they became lesbian cat mothers). I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Critique is appreciated. 
> 
> Have an amazing day!


End file.
